Marvin Pulley, 41, of Donalsonville, GA, holds his flags in the morning sun on the National Mall in Washington, DC, Monday morning as people gather there for the Inauguration. / Eileen Blass, USAT

by Rick Santorum, USA TODAY

by Rick Santorum, USA TODAY

President Obama's inaugural speech was characteristically well delivered, full of messages of hope and prosperity. The problem is, the president often promises one thing, yet does another. For the sake of our nation, we must hope the second time around is different.

We will challenge the president to make us a prosperous nation and do the hard work it requires. Hard work that can't be substituted with a nice speech and an executive order.Obama will have to work with Congress to accomplish his goals and do so in the context of dangerously high levels of national debt and an economy that still sputters along four years after Obama was first sworn in.

I agree with the president that a return to prosperity in America will come from new opportunities for middle income and working Americans. But these new opportunities will not come from an expanding welfare state. Growing federal entitlement programs will not bind future generations of Americans together in a common cause, nor will they stop the vicious cycle of poverty. Bigger, more intrusive government is not the answer. Americans might be inspired by a good speech, but no American has ever been inspired by becoming eligible for a federal benefit or by seeing more of a paycheck disappear.

What will bind Americans together, create opportunities and reduce poverty is a commitment to strengthening our nation's families and communities including economic policies that encourage investment and job creation, especially in manufacturing and small business; education policies that will equip working Americans with the knowledge and tools to earn a good living; social policies that promote and protect the greatest anti-poverty program that exists â?? marriage; and defense and foreign policies that proactively and unapologetically address the most dangerous threats to our freedoms.

I'm pleased Obama opened his speech by quoting the Declaration of Independence, the soul of our great nation. I pray, his understanding of the document is the same as mine: Our freedom and our rights come from God, not our government. Our government exists to secure these freedoms for us and for our children, not take them away.

Former senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania sought the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. He is co-founder of Patriot Voices.

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